NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Gilead Sciences (GILD) shares are down 1.25% to $119.70 in trading on Friday after China rejected the company's patent application for its controversial hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi.

Sovaldi has received criticism due to its prohibitive costs. Priced at $1,000 a pill, the complete 12-week treatment course in the U.S. costs $84,000.

Despite the regulatory rejection, Gilead does hold the Chinese patent to the base compound for the drug, so the decision to not approve the patent does not clear the way for generic knock-offs to be sold in the country, according to Reuters.

Gilead was mentioned today in a Real Money Pro blog by Bret Jensen. Here is what he had to say:

In other news, China has rejected a patent application from Gilead Sciences to sell the company's blockbuster hepatitis C treatment in the Asian nation. One of the biggest challenges facing U.S. companies is that America simply does not enforce trade agreements that deal mainly in intangibles (movies, software, pharmaceuticals, etc.). That's one more reason fast-track authority is having such problems getting approved.

TheStreet Ratings team rates GILEAD SCIENCES INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate GILEAD SCIENCES INC (GILD) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and notable return on equity. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook."